Have You Thanked a Lawyer Today?

The special day of recognition for lawyers was the brainchild of Steve Hughes, a nonlawyer from St. Louis who’s worked for years consulting with lawyers on presentation skills. Tired of lawyer jokes and pity from friends who learned about his clientele, Hughes declared the second Tuesday in April to be National Be Kind to Lawyers Day.

Inspired by the holiday, we’d like you to compose a letter of thanks—a letter praising a specific lawyer, area of law or the profession in general for some positive outcome. Or better yet, share a letter from a client showing that there is real appreciation for the service lawyers provide.

Posted by Bob Ellis: “My law firm and its predecessors have hosted about 30 foreign legal interns over the years, none of whom we have paid—mainly because their visas (usually B-1) do not permit them to be paid. Even if payment were permitted, we spend far more time training them than we could get back in money based on any hours they could bill. The purposes of the internships are for them to learn about U.S. law, for us to make long-term contacts with future foreign attorneys, and for everyone to have fun. The interns themselves often earn academic credit for their internships. Occasionally foreign interns produce excellent and useful research and analysis, but instead of billing it, we generally “no charge” it to clients. Our policy on foreign interns, including the fact that the internships are unpaid, is posted on our website at http://www.petersonellis.com/html/contact_us_interns.html. The program has been thoroughly enjoyable, and many lasting friendships and collegial relationships have resulted. We have occasionally hosted unpaid domestic pre-law interns as well, but only for very short periods of time.”